Dreams and Tea
by Refreshingly Original
Summary: Just something that came to mind. Harry has been having nightmare and Minerva goes to have some tea.   What do they talk about?
1. Dreams and Tea

**Dreams and Tea**

Minerva sat at her desk marking the third year tests. She didn't have to do them that night, but she decided if she got them out of the way now, she would be able to relax the next day. The clock chimed ten times, telling her that she had been marking the essays for three hours without a break. She placed her quill next to the pile of unmarked essays and ran her hand down the side of her face with a sigh. She would have a short break; perhaps she would have a cup of tea in the kitchens. With that in mind, she walked out of her office and down the hallways until she came to the portrait of a fruit basket. After tickling the pear, she was allowed entrance to the kitchens. There were no house elves there at that time of night, so she walked straight to the back of the room and made herself a cup of strong tea. When she turned around, she almost dropped her teacup and saucer.

"Potter!" Harry jumped at the cry. He didn't say anything when he looked up at his head of house, just watched as she straightened herself and placed her tea cup down on the bench. "What are you doing here? It's past curfew." Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked back down at the cup in his hands. For the past few nights he hadn't been able to sleep from nightmares. "Potter? Is everything alright?" His head of house asked from beside him.

He jumped again in surprise. He hadn't heard her move from her spot across the bench. He looked up at her and blinked before looking down at the cup again with a small shrug of his shoulders again. Minerva sighed softly and sat down next to him. Potter had always been one of the students who had wormed their way into her heart, even if she didn't want them to, just like his mother and father had. Slowly she lifted her cup too her mouth and took a small sip of the hot liquid. Instead of lowering it back to the table, she held it in front of her. "Sometimes, when I have nightmares, I can't sleep for days or weeks." She started. "One time I worked for close to three weeks non-stop, until one day I just fell asleep." She looked down into her cup of tea and smiled. "I fell asleep at my desk in the middle of class. No one woke me up, or even tried to leave class. I surprised to say the least when I lifted my head to see the room empty except for one student. She sat at her desk reading. When she realized I was watching her she smiled and stood up." She looked up with a glazed look. "She handed me a note and left. The note said that everyone was glad to see that I was finally resting and on my way back to being their strict but fair Professor. I was surprised at that, but what amazed me the most was that there were small notes from everyone in the class saying how sorry they were for when they misbehaved or did something that irritated me for the past few weeks. One note stood out the most though. It said that if I ever again felt the need to work myself so hard that I was falling asleep in class, they would personally feed me a dreamless sleep potion."

Harry listened to his Professor talk and realised how relaxing her voice was when it was soft. He watched her through heavy eyelids as she continued on about how everyone wrote her a note apologizing and telling her to get more rest. He smiled at the thought of someone telling the most powerful witch to do something and not ending up as a toad. When she looked at him, she was smiling as well.

"I could not believe that I was actually being threatened by fourth years, until I looked at who signed it. Those three were always breaking the rules, but I couldn't help but feel like someone cared for me, even if they were troublemakers." Taking a deep breath, she turned in her seat until she was facing him. "Harry, what I'm saying is that the people you least expect, care and love you, even if they don't show it." She explained, resting her hand on his shoulder.

Harry looked into her eyes and saw that she was right. The person he least expected, cared and loved him. He smiled at her and nodded his head. McGonnagall watched him for a second hoping that he would reply, but when it appeared that he wasn't going to, she smiled back at him and turned back to her now cold tea. For a while they sat in silence, both drinking their reheated tea, until Harry couldn't hold his tongue anymore. "Who were the three fourth years Professor?"

Minerva smirked. "Potter, Black and Lupin."

Harry nearly choked on his tea at the mention of his father, godfather and adoptive uncle. Harry started laughing. His godfather had always told him stories about the pranks they pulled and how much trouble they got into by their head of house, but he always said that he suspected that she cared for them a bit more than she should have. It looked like that care went both ways. When he calmed down and looked back his Professor, his smile reached his eyes. "Thank you, Professor." He stood up and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Thank you."

Minerva smiled and hugged him back. "You're most welcome Harry. Now I believe it's time for bed." She said after Harry pulled back. Harry nodded his head and started walking to the door. "Harry, my door is always open, if you want to talk, or just have a cup of tea."

Harry looked back and smiled again. "Good night Professor."

"Good night."


	2. Nightmares and Dinner

**Nightmares and Tea**

"_Tell me where he is hiding!" A man spat in her face. Minerva looked up at the mad and sneered. "Tell me, or else." He growled.  
"Or else what? You'll torture me? You've already done that. You'll beat me? You've done that to. You'll starve me? You haven't given me food since I was first brought here. What else can you do to me?" She yelled.  
The man in front of her smiled. It wasn't a nice smile, it was one that showed every single one of his teeth, and matched his madness. She didn't like the sight of it. The last time she saw it, she nearly died under the cruciatus curse. "I have always liked you Minerva. You are always strong, even in the face of death. I admire that, but when I'm through with you. You won't even be able to look at your reflection in the mirror." He laughed deeply before he started to undo his shirt.  
Minerva knew straight away what he was going to do and struggled against the restraints that held her hands above her head and her feet to the floor. He laughed at her attempts of escape and continued to disrobe. Her struggles became desperate when he started to come closer.  
He walked calmly towards Minerva and flicked his wand. Her clothes disappeared and left her exposed to his prying eyes. He stopped right in front of her and ran his hand down the side of her face. "I'm going to enjoy this." He said before he plunged deep inside her._

Minerva woke up screaming. She bolted out of her bed and ran into the bathroom to throw up what little she had in her stomach. It had been months since she had last had that particular nightmare. Why would it start again now? She sat on her knees in front of the toilet taking deep breaths. When she was sure she wasn't going to throw up again, she slowly stood up and flushed the toilet. Carefully she made her way over to the sink in looked at her reflection. Her eyes weren't their usual bright green, but a dull dark green. She sighed and turned the cold tap on. Splashing some of the water over her face, she sighed again and looked up. He was right, months after she was rescued, she couldn't look at the person looking back at her in the mirror. But now she had no fear of looking at herself. Now she could see the years etched more deeply across her once smooth skin, the stress of the years in the greying of her hair and now the nearly lifeless eyes staring back at her.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom without a backwards glance. She looked at her bed and sighed; she knew she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep that night, so she threw on her night gown and left her private rooms. She was going to check on her Gryffindor's. Quietly she walked through the portrait and looked around the common room. No one was asleep on the couch in front of the fire like usual, so she walked up the stairs to the girl dormitories. She looked in on each one and smiled at the peaceful faces of the slumbering girls. She walked across the hall to the boy's level and opened the first year's dormitories. It was a mess, but that was normal so she closed the door and moved on to the next.

Coming to the last dormitory, she silently opened the door and was greeted with the loud snoring of none other but Ronald Weasly. She soundlessly walked further into the room and looked at Ron's bed. She could swear she just heard him mumble Hermione's name. Shaking her head, she turned around and looked at the sleeping form of Harry Potter. She walked closer to his bed and saw that he was frowning slightly in his sleep. Gently, she brushed her hand over his forehead and moved the black hair away from his closed eyes. When she removed her hand, she was surprised to see that Harry was now smiling in his sleep. She smiled to herself and walked back to the door. She took one last look around to make sure that everyone was still asleep, than closed the door.

Like a ghost, she walked down the stairs to the common room, out the portrait and down the many hallways that made up Hogwarts. Great, now what was she going to do? She wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep, so she decided to get some work done. With that in mind, she set off back to her quarters to get changed into her teaching robes and then head to her office.

Four hours later found Minerva sitting behind her desk marking the last essay of the fifth years. After scribbling a quick A in the top corner, she laid it on top of the rest and stood up. Looking up at the clock in the corner of her office, she was shocked to see that it was time for class to start. She collected the essay she marked that night and walked to class. The first class of the day was the fifth year Gryffindor's and Slytherin's. She walked into her class just as people started to file in. She placed the essays on her desk and waved her wand at the board.

Once everyone was seated, she turned around and looked the class over. "The instructions are on the board. I expect no talking." Everyone looked at the board before starting today's task. They rarely had written assignments in class, but when they did, they knew not to behave badly. Even the Slytherin's knew it.

Harry sat in the front row next to Hermione , writing his assignment. For an hour and a half, he wrote until he couldn't write anymore and finished off the essay. He stretched his hand and looked up at his Professor. She was sitting at her desk with her head propped up by her hand while she wrote something down with the other. He looked away as she stood up and walked over to her bookcase. He watched her from the corner of his eye. Her movements were somewhat slower than usual and her eyes seemed to be duller. When she sat back down, she let out a faint yawn. If he wasn't watching her so closely, he would have put it down as a sigh.

When class ended, Minerva dismissed everyone with a wave of her hand and no homework, everyone packed up as fast as they could and left. Harry stayed seated as Hermione stood up. When she looked at him, he shook his head. She nodded and left without saying anything. When she was gone, Harry stood up and walked up to the front of her desk. "Professor, are you okay? You seem tired." He asked softly.

Minerva looked up from her work and felt the corners of her mouth turn upwards. "I'm fine, Harry. But thank you for asking."

Harry opened his mouth to ask if she was sure, but he closed it as the next class began to file in. He turned around and glared the group of second year's. He turned back around to face Minerva and nodded his head sharply before walking out of the classroom. Minerva sighed quietly to herself and stood up to begin the lesson.

Four hours after her last lesson ended, Minerva stood up from her desk with a sigh and headed to the Great Hall. When she got there, she looked around the hall. All of the tables were full already and the children were waiting for the feast to begin. When she sat down, the food appeared and everyone started pilling it on to their plates. She looked around her and saw that it was chicken that night. She sighed and served herself some of the vegetables and fried chicken. After eating only a few bites, she pushed her plate away from her slightly and took a mouthful of her water. Five minutes later found her staring down at her food, pushing it around with her fork.

Feeling as though someone was watching her, she looked up and looked around the Great Hall. When she looked over the Gryffindor table, she saw that Harry was frowning at her. She arched her eyebrow at him in question, only to see him throw down his fork and fold his arms. She frowned at him. What was he doing? She looked around her to make sure no one was watching and mouthed '_eat_' at him. But he only shook his head and pointed at her. '_You._'

She looked down at her plate and saw that hardly anything she added was eaten and blushed slightly. She looked back up at Harry and rolled her eyes, which would have worked if it weren't for the small smile she had on. Harry nodded his head and turned back to his dinner.

When the feast was over, Minerva walked out of the Great Hall behind Harry and Hermione.  
"Why were you starring at Professor McGonnagall Harry?"

Harry looked behind them discretely and smirked at her. "She wasn't eating."


	3. Nightmares and Dinner Part 2

**Nightmares and Dinner **

**Part 2**

Harry walked into the Great Hall with Hermione and Ron on either side of him. At first glance, everything looked as it would be in the mornings. The four tables were close to being full; the head table was full with all the Professors, except Dumbledore. So he kept on walking to the Gryffindor table and sat down beside Ron and across from Hermione, who sat next to Ginny. He piled his plate with sausages, fried eggs and hash browns. He looked at Ron's plate and blanched at the amount of food he was adding. Of cause he knew that Ron would eat all of it, and go back for second and maybe thirds, but honestly. Where did he put it all?

Hermione obviously had the same idea as she glared at him before cutting up her sausage and ate it like a civil person. Harry smiled and went back to eating his own breakfast.

Harry must have been half way through his food when he heard Hermione speak up. "Hey, where's Professor McGonnagall? She never misses breakfast."

Harry looked up and turned to see that Hermione was right. McGonnagall wasn't sitting in her usual seat next to Headmasters chair. He shrugged his shoulders in answer, keeping his face expressionless just in case Hermione sure how worried he was. He knew that the Professor never missed breakfast. She liked to make sure her students ate at least a piece of toast before heading off to class. Harry looked down at his plate and suddenly didn't feel that hungry. He looked back up at Hermione for a second, than pushed away from the table. "I left my transfiguration home work in the common room. I'll meet you in class." He said. At Hermione's nod, he turned and walked out of the Great Hall.

When the doors closed behind him, he picked up his pace slightly and hurried to the Transfiguration classroom. When he got there, he found that it was empty, though it looked like someone had been in there a while ago. There were papers thrown around the desk in the front of the room and the chair was pushed out from under the desk. He frowned and looked around the room further. At the back of the classroom, he noticed that the door to his Head of House's office was open slightly. He quietly walked over to it and peered around the solid door.

Minerva was sitting at her desk, well more like slumped over it with a quill still sitting in her hand. Harry gently pushed the door open a bit further and walked into the room. Two of the walls were lined with large floor to ceiling bookcases, while the back wall held a large stain glass window of a lion. He smiled slightly at seeing the lion, but when he looked back at his Professor; his smile vanished and turned into a worried frown. She was sleeping on top of a stack of essays. But what caught his attention was the look of pain on her face. He carefully reached out and touched her shoulder, pulling it back quickly when he saw her flinch. When nothing happened after he pulled his hand back, he reached out again and shook her shoulder. "Professor. Professor McGonnagall?"

Minerva groaned at the movement of her arm. She leisurely opened her eyes and looked up from underneath her eyelashes. What was Pot-Harry doing in her rooms? Did something happen? Instantly she was wide awake and alert. "What happened? Is someone hurt?" She asked as she stood up, not even realizing that she was at her desk, instead of in her bed.

Harry pulled back at the quick movement. When he stood away from the witch, he noticed for the first time that her hair wasn't in its usual tight bun. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he looked up into the dark green eyes of his Professor and glared. "Why did you feel the need to work yourself so hard that you fell asleep at your desk last night?" He asked, knowing that it was along the same lines of what his father and friends said in the letter.

Minerva was staggered backwards at the strength of Harry's glare. Where had her shy Harry gone? She closed her eyes and thought to herself. _'No Minerva. Not your Harry.' _When she opened her eyes, she was astounded to see worry in his eyes. He was concerned for her. The thought made her smile slightly, but then the answer to his question squashed that feeling and left her feeling drained. She sighed and fell back into her chair. "I had a rather unpleasant dream the night before last." She said by way of explaining.

Harry sat down in the chair on the other side of her desk and dropped his bag onto the floor beside the chair. He waited for her to continue, but when no other reason came forth, he leant forward in his chair and looked at her closely. He could see the small circles under her eyes and her face was paler than normal. Obviously the dream was more than unpleasant if she was losing so much sleep over it for rings to appear under her eyes in two days. Harry leant back in his chair and made himself comfortable. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked in a soft tone of voice.

Minerva opened her eyes at the question and looked at the boy, no young man, in front of her. She looked down at her hands and sighed. "You must understand Harry. I haven't told anyone about this for many, many years." She looked up and saw that he was nodding his head. "Very well. Just like you Harry, I grew up in the middle of a war. I didn't really understand what was going on around me in my first year of schooling. All I knew was that there were books on things I have only ever dreamt about. I was the top of my class in every subject. In my second year, my transfiguration Professor was replaced after being accused of shady dealings. At first I wasn't too happy about it, but after a while, Professor Dumbledore became someone I trusted a great deal. In my third year, I was given a time turner because I wanted to take every class available. When I was told to see Professor Dumbledore in his office, I went straight away." She pushed herself out of her chair and walked over to the window and looked out. "When I got there, I overheard him talking about Grindelwald. He was the Dark Lord of my time. He wanted to purge all that was unpure. He joined forces with the Germans in the World War and did a lot of damage to both worlds. As I said before, I didn't really take notice of what was going on outside of the castle. But after that, I started asking Dumbledore questions. After three years, I became of age and decided that I wanted to help him in the war." She looked back at Harry. "That was one of the stupidest decisions I have ever made. Rumours were that he had spies in the castle to keep a watch on him, but of course I didn't believe them. Turns out that particular one was true though. Six months after telling him I was going to help him whether he liked it or not, we had a chance to end the war and we took it." She sighed and looked back out the window. "It didn't go as planned and we had to apperate away. I wasn't quick enough and was captured. For days, I was asked where he was hiding as he hadn't returned to the castle, and when I answered them with I don't know, I was tortured. After days of them starving me and beating me. Grindelwald himself came. He asked me once where he was. My answer was still the same. So he beat me. After he was done, he ordered me to tell him or else." She said in a shaky voice.

Harry watched as Minerva stared out the window almost as if she was watching what happened in front of her. After a minutes silence, she looked at him with hollow eyes. "When he threatened me, I lost control and started saying things. They were starving me already, they were beating me nearly every day. What else could they do?" She looked back at the window. "Turns out he could a lot more. He said that he had always liked me. That I was strong, even when faced with death. He said that he admired that, but when he was through with me, I wouldn't even be able to look at my own reflection. At first I didn't know what he meant, but then he started to undress. I struggled to get free but the chains were too tight. He started laughing at me and I grew desperate. He stood right in front of me and said that he was going to enjoy this." Harry slowly stood up. "He-He raped me. For close to a week, he r-raped me. He wouldn't stop when I begged him, would only laugh in my face and do it again." She turned to look at him with tears in her eyes. "Do you want to know what bothers me most? He was right. I couldn't look at my own reflection in the mirror for over a year." She sobbed and collapsed.

Harry stepped forward and caught her before she could hit the ground. He held onto her tightly and gently rocked her back and forth, trying to comfort her. Prudently he made circler motions around her back while whispering in her ear. When her sobs eased to soft cries, he pulled back to look at her face. Her once pale cheeks were bright red with tear tracks staining her cheeks. Shyly he lifted his hands and wiped away the last tears away with his thumbs than handed her a handkerchief.

Smiling gratefully, she took the hanky with shaking hand and blew her nose before vanishing it away. When she looked up again, she looked absolutely drained, but the light in her eyes had returned. She quickly pulled Harry into an embrace and whispered in his ear. "Thank you, Harry." And kissed him nimbly on the cheek, before standing up and offering her hand. "Come now Mr Potter. Class is about to begin."

Harry smiled at his Head f House.


	4. Mi and Tea

**Mi and Tea**

Harry walked aimlessly around the corridors of the old castle. Well, he wasn't thinking about where he was going, but he knew where he going to end up at the rate he was walking. For the past ten minutes he had been walking around the corridors around Gryffindor tower. He knew that she had meant it when she said her door was always open, but he didn't really feel comfortable with the idea of waking her up at two in the morning only two days after she had told him about why she couldn't sleep.

With a sigh he stopped in front of the portrait of Godric Gryffindor that guarded her private quarters. He looked up at the portrait and chewed on his bottom lip in thought before he stood up straighter and spoke in a soft whisper. "Excuse me Sir. Sir."

The man in the portrait groaned and opened his eyes and glared. "What do you want boy? It's two in the morning."

"I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you Sir. But, could you tell me if Professor McGonagall is awake? I sort of need to talk to her."

Gryffindor stood up and peered down at Harry. "Only one other student has asked if your Professor was awake when they came to see her this early in the morning. She did it because it was the polite thing to do, so why are you doing it?"

"It's just that a few days ago she told me she hadn't been sleeping well and I don't want to interrupt what sleep she does get just because I had a dream."

Godric nodded his head with a slight curve of his lip. "Very well. I will check." With that he disappeared from the portrait, only to come back a few seconds later shaking his head. "I'm afraid she's asleep. Would you like me to tell her you came when she wakes?"

"No thank you. I'll talk with her later." He started to walk away, but turned back. "Excuse me Sir, but who was the other person?"

"Lily Evans."

Harry nodded his thanks and walked back to the tower to climb into his bed.

_**Two hours later….**_

"HARRY! Harry wake up! Harry!"

"He's not answering. Someone go get McGonagall! NOW!"

Two pairs of feet stomped down the stairs in a hurry. Leaving behind two other people in the boys dormitory.

"What do we do Hermione?" Came the panicked voice of Ron.

Hermione looked up with teary eyes. "We wait."

Running all the way from the tower, two identical twins stopped in front of the portrait of Godric Gryffindor. "We need Professor McGonagall. It's important." The one on the right huffed.

"What's happened?" Godric asked in an irritated voice. He would see if it was important enough to wake the sleeping Professor. After what the other one had said earlier on in the morning, he didn't want her to be woken up for some practical joke.

"It's Harry. He's dreaming and he won't wake up." Puffed the twin on the left.

Godrics hairy eyebrows disappeared under his hair. "Is this Harry sort of short, black hair and green eyes?" The twins nodded their heads vigorously. "Very well." He said and left his portrait for the second time that morning. This time when he came back though, he looked pale even though he was just a painting. "She'll be out soon."

The boys nodded their heads again and stood up from their hunched over positions. No sooner had they stood up, the portrait swung inwards to reveal McGonagall with her hair in a long braid and her dark green robe. "What happened?" She asked, still holding on to the door.

"It's Harry. He's…" Before they could finish speaking, Minerva pushed past them and practically ran down the hallway, causing her robe to bellow out behind her in a very Snape-like fashion. Fred and George looked at each other before groaning and dashing off to catch up with their Head of House.

They rounded the last corner in time to see McGonagall vanish through the portrait hole. The pair quickly followed and ran up the stairs to the boys dormitory.

"Move." Minerva ordered as she rushed to the edge of Harry's bed.

Hermione stood up and watched as her favourite Professor took her previous place beside Harry. She saw the way that she held her robe together and thought that she shouldn't have to hold it so tightly.

"How long has he been like this?" She asked through clenched teeth.

Suddenly Hermione knew why McGonagall was holding her robe so tight. Her chest was hurting from run from her rooms. Hermione turned to Ginny and waved her over and quietly whispered in her ear. Ginny nodded and dashed out from the room when McGonagall turned to face Hermione.

"Miss Granger, how long has he been like this?" She asked again.

"Fifteen minutes."

Minerva sighed and turned back to look at the thrashing form of Harry Potter. "He will not be waking up by himself any time soon then." She said to herself.

Ginny walked back into the dormitory with the item Hermione had asked for. She handed it over to her friend and watched as she stepped beside their Professor. She recognised what was in the bottle as she was the one to give it Hermione in the first place. It was a pain relief potion. A strong one at that.

Hermione stood next to her Professor and pressed the bottle into her hand without anyone seeing. "What do we do Professor?"

Minerva looked down at the bottle now in her hand before she looked up at her pupil. "_We_ do nothing. Everyone will go back to their bed. I will calm him down."

"How Professor?" Hermione asked.

McGonagall hesitated for a moment. "I will do what I always have done."

"Professor?"

"I will stay with him. Now off to bed. All of you." She snapped in her best _do-as-I-say _voice.

There was a lot of grumbles, but all the extra bodies exited the dormitory, the last person shutting the door behind them. Minerva sighed and looked down at the small purple bottle in her hand. "Mr Weasley, please give this back to Miss Granger some time tomorrow." She said, putting it on the nightstand between Harry's and Ron's beds.

Ron nodded his head jerkily. "Y-Yes Professor." Minerva nodded her head and turned back to Harry. "Umm, Professor?"

"Yes, Mr Weasley?"

"A-Are you planning on staying in the dormitory for the rest of the night?"

Minerva looked back down at Harry to hide her amusement. "Aye, I am Mr Weasley." She looked back up at him, this time giving him a small smile. "Is that going to bother you Mr Weasley?"

"Not at all Professor." He answered in complete honesty. He saw the shocked looks that the rest of the dorm was giving him and the look of surprise on his Professors face, he hurried to explain. "You're here to help Harry. Since you're the only one who can, it doesn't bother me."

"Well, Thank you , Mr Weasley. Now off to sleep boys."

Again there were grumbles, but none of the boys disobeyed their Head of House.

"Goodnight Professor McGonagall."

"Yeah, goodnight Professor."

"Night McG."

"Night Pro."

Minerva shook her head and chuckled to herself at the names. "Goodnight lads." She said before she changed into her feline form. She sat still, just listening to the even breathing of all of the other boys, except her Harry. _No. He isn't your Harry Minerva. _The grey tabby shook its head as if to clear it from its thoughts. Silently, she padded further up the bed before lightly standing on his chest. Circling twice, Minerva curled herself into a ball facing her young charge so she could watch him.

Almost instantly Harry calmed down and stopped throwing his head from side to side. Minerva inwardly smiled. _Some things never change._ She thought before closing her eyes and falling into a light slumber.


	5. Mi and Tea Part 2

**Mi and Tea**

**Part 2**

Some things never change. _She thought before closing her eyes and falling into a light slumber._

Green eyes open to the too bright world of the boy's dormitory. With a groan of annoyance, Harry slowly sat up. _It's far too bloody early. _He thought as he sat up straight. There was a dull thump as something solid landed on his lap. _Huh? What the…_Squinting, he looked down. In his lap was a grey tabby cat. From what he could tell without his glasses on, it didn't look to happy at being woken up. In fact, it looked like it was glaring at him.

Chuckling at the thought, Harry reached out and scratched the cat between the ears. "Awww…aren't you happy about being woken up Mi?" He smiled as the cat turned its head into his hand. "Well aren't you affectionate." He chuckled and shifted back under the blankets. "Let's go back to sleep Mi." He said, laying back down.

Minerva reallocated from Harry's legs, back to his chest, once again curling herself into a ball. She stretched out her neck, allowing her head to lull to one side as Harry rubbed under her chin. "Sweet dreams Mi." Harry whispered, closing his own eyes.

Minerva meowed softly in response.

**One hour later…**

"Oi guys. Listen. Can you hear that?"

"No. Now shut up."

"No, l can hear something."

"So can I. Where's it coming from?"

"I think it's coming from Harry's bed."

"Someone go look to see what it is."

"You."

"Fine."

The sound of feet touching the floor sounded around the now silent dormitory. The soft sound moved from one side to the other, right beside Harry's bed. The person standing beside Harry let out a gasp.

"She's purring."

"Who is?"

"Professor McGonagall. She's purring."

"McG? What's she doing here?"

"She stayed to calm Harry down, remember."

"Oh yeah. Should we wake her up?"

"I don't know. I suppose we should wake Harry up. It's nearly time for breakfas…"

Minerva slowly pried her eyes open upon hearing Harry's name for the second time. Giving a cat yawn, she opened her eyes fully. What she saw made her yowl in surprise. Seamus Finnegan leaning over her, reaching out. Without thinking, she hissed and raised herself from her relaxed position.

"What the? Whoa, Pro! I'm not going to hurt you." Ashamed of herself, Minerva lowered herself and covered her ears with her paws. "It's alright Pro. I was just waking Harry up so he can get dressed in time for breakfast."

Minerva quickly jumped from Harry's chest and switched back to her human form. "Breakfast? What time is it?"

"It's quarter to nine Professor." Neville answered.

"Thank you Mr Longbottom. Can you tell Mr Potter to come to my office sometime today?" She asked as she transfigured her robe into her teaching robes.

Neville nodded his head. "Of course Professor."

Minerva nodded her head and left the boys to wake Harry up. While walking down the stairs to the common room, she spelled her hair up into a lose bun at the base of her neck. Stepping off the last step, Minerva was surprised to see only Ron and Hermione in the common room. Nodding to them, she walked out of the portrait hole and to her office to finish some marking.


	6. Mi and Tea Part 3

**Mi and Tea**

**Part 3**

Minerva paced back and forth in front of her desk with her head bowed in thought. She was worried about Harry. But then again, when wasn't she. Ever since he had been given to his muggle relatives, she had worried about him. He was the reason for the few grey hairs she had. She looked up at the clock and sighed. She had been pacing for over an hour. After she had left the tower, she came to her office to mark the seventh year essays she had assigned, but she couldn't concentrate, so after an hour of trying, she had given up and started pacing. Now, she looked back down at the floor beneath her feet as she continued to pace.

Growling under her breath, she threw herself into her chair and rested her head in her hand. Only seconds after collapsing into her chair, a loud yet hesitant knock echoed through her office. Sitting up straighter, Minerva picked up her quill. "Come in."

Harry opened the door a crack and poked his head in. "You wanted to see me Professor."

Minerva smiled and relaxed her shoulders. "Yes I did. Have a seat."

Harry stepped fully into her office and looked at the seat in front of her desk in distaste before looking back up at her blankly.

"What?" Minerva asked upon seeing his expression.

With a shake of his head, he pushed aside the chair and conjured one of his own in its place. He looked up at his Head of House and saw _you're-a-strange-one _plainly written across her face as she looked at him. He smiled impishly at her, causing her to shake her head at his antics.

Harry leant back in his newly conjured chair and folded his arms across his chest loosely. "So what'd you want to talk to me about Pro McG?"

The name caused her a moment's pause. "I wanted to know what you were dreaming about last night Harry. When I got there, Miss Granger said you'd been like that for fifteen minutes."

Harry looked down at his legs. "The Dursley's." He mumbled.

Minerva sat up straighter. "Pardon?" She asked.

"The Dursley's. I was dreaming about the Dursley's." He said, closing his eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it Harry?" She asked carefully, not wanting to push him.

Harry opened his eyes at the question and looked at her. He looked down at his legs again and sighed. "Did you know that I lived in a cupboard under the stairs for the first eleven years of my life, and that I had to make breakfast and lunch every day?" He asked silently. "Every day I would get up and make breakfast, and if I burnt it, normally I wouldn't get anything to eat for three days."

"Normally?" Minerva asked softly.

Harry nodded his head. "Normally yes. But one time, I burnt it and my Aunt hit me over the head with the frying pan. Took it straight off the stove and backhanded me over the head with it." He looked into her eyes and was mildly surprised to see sadness hidden in the depths and anger flashing in them. "I was dreaming about that. After my Aunt hit me, Uncle Vernon decided he wanted to help..." He trailed off and his eyes glazed over.

_Vernon jumped out of his chair at the kitchen table and stalked over to the small Harry lying on the kitchen floor holding his head. "Get up boy!" When little Harry didn't get up Vernon drew back his leg and kicked him in the stomach. "I said Get Up!" He yelled, spit flying from his mouth._

_Harry slowly pushed himself onto all fours, only to crash back down onto the floor after being kicked on the back. "You are a waste of space boy." His Uncles shouted above his head which was followed by a series of punches to any part of his body that was unprotected. "You should be grateful. We took you in. Fed you, clothed you." Each word was enforced with a hit to his sore body._

"He continued to hit me and I begged for him to stop. But he didn't. Then I begged Aunt Petunia to help me. She hit over the head again." He frowned. "But then the dream changed, it wasn't a memory anymore."

_The back door that opened into the kitchen suddenly shattered with a loud crack. A figure was running towards the new opening and jumped through. A lioness stood proudly in front of the small boy lying on the floor shaking. She narrowed her eyes at the two adults standing over the boy. It opened its mouth and let out an almighty roar that shook the foundations of the house. Vernon and Petunia stopped beating young Harry and stared at the lioness. It roared again, showing its sharp teeth to the humans. The pair shrank back at the sound before bolting from the house._

He looked up. "Then, the lion turned around and looked at me. She had the darkest green eyes I had ever seen." He smiled. "Quite like yours."

Minerva looked at Harry in shock. "Mine?"

"Yep." He leant forward with a sweet smile. "Thanks for saving me last night Mi." He said softly before getting up and leaving, closing the door behind him.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Minerva's mouth. "You're welcome Harry." She said to the empty room.


	7. Lullabies and Tea

**A/N: **Okay, after a dose of writers block, I have finally started writing again. Of course I've had help.  
So thank you** Katie Travanion**.  
If it wasn't for her, I would still be stuck. If it wasn't for her review which gave me an idea on how to tie my idea up, you guys would seriously be hating me.  
So once again **THANK YOU KATIE!**

**Lullabies and Tea**

Harry ran down the stairs from the Astronomy Tower and down the halls as fast as he could after the Potions Master. He didn't see that the other students and Professors were duelling with other Death Eaters, so he didn't notice that McGonnagall was following him as fast as she could in her heavy robes. No he didn't see that she was blocking the stray curses that came near him, or the fire in her eyes as one came to close to him. He didn't see the masked villain fall to the ground either; he was too busy trying to catch up to Snape and his friends.

He turned around the corner he saw Snape turn and caught sight of the group of Death Eaters trying to sneak out of the side entrance of the Great Hall. Growling, Harry pushed himself harder and followed. As he ran down the hill towards Hagrid's hut, a bright light in the distance flared up, and with a horrified expression, he realised that his friend home had been set on fire by one of the Death Eaters. With a new determination, he threw a curse at the retreating figure of his most hated Professor.

"You coward! Fight back!" He yelled, throwing another curse his way.

Snape easily blocked the curse, but didn't retaliate. Instead, he turned back around to follow his comrades into the Forbidden Forrest.

"Sectumsempra."

Spinning around quickly, Snape threw the hex before it could cause any damage to him and threw one of his own back, causing Harry to fall to the ground. "You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?" Harry looked up at him, surprise showing in his green eyes. "Yes. I am the Half-Blood Prince." Snape sneered before turning around slowly and walking into the forest.

Harry watched him walk away, gasping for air. He could see the flames from Hagrids hut slowly shrinking from the black creeping in from the edges of his vision. Just before his world turned black, he heard the hurried steps of someone running towards him.

**Back in the castle…**

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The masked figure dropped to the ground with a satisfying thump. Minerva allowed herself to smirk for a second before spinning back around to where she had last saw Harry, only to find the area empty. Eyes widening, she looked around franticly for her young charge. When she didn't see him anywhere, she held her wand out in front of her. "Point me." She whispered.

A small globe of light formed in front of her and hovered for a second, before darting down the halls. Not caring what was going on around her, she ran after it down the halls and out of the Great Hall. Half way down the hill to Hagrid's hut, the light stopped and hovered for a moment, before fading away in the wind like smoke. Gasping, Minerva picked up as much of her robes as she could and sprinted towards the figure lying on the ground.

Breathing erratically, she dropped to her knee's beside the unconscious form of Harry and checked to see if he was breathing. When she found his pulse she sighed in relief. But quickly refocused on the task at hand. With a flick of her wand, she muttered under her breath. "Ennervate." She dropped her wand instantly and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "Ohh Harry. I was so worried. I saw you…"

Harry started to cry into her shoulder as she held him. "He's dead. He killed him, and he's dead."

"Who is Harry?" Minerva asked him quietly, rubbing her hand up and down his back as she did so.

"Snape. He killed him."

"Who did he kill Harry?" She asked again.

"D-Dumbledore." He stuttered and started to cry harder.

Minerva stiffened at the stuttered name of her friend and felt her eyes fill with tears that wanted release, but she held them at bay and held Harry in a tight embrace, rocking him from side to side.


	8. Lullabies and Tea Part 2

**A/N: **Okay, after a dose of writers block, I have finally started writing again. Of course I've had help.  
So **thank you **Katie Travanion. If it wasn't for her, I would still be stuck. If it wasn't for her review which gave me an idea on how to tie my idea up, you guys would seriously be hating me.  
So once again **THANK YOU KATIE!**

**Lullabies and Tea**

**Part 2**

Minerva didn't know how long they had been holding each other, but assumed that they had been there for a long time when she heard a faint scream come from the courtyard in front of the entrance of the castle. She knew straight away that the body of Albus Dumbledore had been found at the base of the Astronomy Tower. She didn't move though, instead she held Harry closer to her and continued to silently pray. Sometime later, Minerva felt two pairs of hands on her shoulders. Looking up, she was startled to see that Weasley twins were standing behind her with worried looks.

"Professor, you should come inside." Fred said quietly.

"You'll freeze if you stay out any longer." George finished, just as quietly.

Minerva frowned at them. "What time is it?" She asked, noticing that her voice was hoarse form holding back her tears.

From the identical looks they both held, they were obviously surprised at her question. "Professor…" George started.

"It's just gone midnight." And Fred finished.

"Midnight." She whispered in shock. She looked down at Harry and wasn't surprised to see that he had fallen asleep in her arms. With a sigh, she looked back up at the twins to ask for help, but her pride didn't allow her to. Instead, she tried to stand up with Harry in her arms, but failed in succeeding. She was half way up when her legs gave out from under her at the extra weight. The twins moved forward and caught her under her arms and around her waist, steadying her. With their help, she regained her balance and held Harry close to her chest protectively. "Thank you boys." She whispered.

The twins looked at each other and communicated with the other in a single look. They nodded once and stepped in front of her. "Professor, let us help you with Harry."

Minerva looked up from Harry and into the twins eyes, but didn't say anything. "Please Professor."

Minerva continued to look at them before slowly looking down at Harry, nodding slowly. Fred moved forward and carefully took Harry from her arms, without looking away from her eyes. Minerva nodded once, and stood up straighter. "Right. My rooms." She said sternly and turned sharply on her heel, marching up the pathway to the castle.

Fred adjusted Harry in his arms and followed after McGonnagall with his twin beside him. They made the trek up to the castle in silence, but when they reached the main doors, Minerva hesitated to open the door. "Who-Who screamed?" She asked in a distressed tone.

Fred and George glanced at one another, but it was George who stepped forward. "Hermione."

The older witch shook her head sadly and pushed open the doors to the entrance hall. Once everyone was inside, she closed them behind her with a loud _clang_ that echoed around the silent halls of the old castle. She dipped her head and followed the unusually quiet twins. As they walked towards her quarters, Minerva could feel the sadness seeping into her body. On top of that, her skin was tingling from the magic of the castle as it mourned in its own way, by absorbing small parts of everyone else's sadness.

Soon they were standing outside of her rooms. In front of them was the portrait of Godric Gryffindor with a forlorn expression. Minerva looked into his eyes, and saw the pity, but couldn't bring herself to be irritated by it. Instead, she lowered her head and whispered the password. "My kitten has returned home."

Godric nodded his head and silently swung open for her to enter. Not looking up, she led the twins further into her rooms and pointed to the small sofa that sat in front of the fire. Carefully, so not to jostle him, Fred lowered Harry onto the settee. As he did so, he made sure that there was enough room at the head of the sofa for McGonnagall to sit down next to Harry. After he stood up straight and moved to stand next to his brother, he was shocked into smiling at what his stern Head of House.

Minerva moved forward immediately after Fred had backed away. She leant over the slumbering figure and tugged the green tartan blanket over his body, tucking it in loosely around him. Without thinking, she brushed his fringe from his forehead and kissed him lightly.

George sucked in a quick breath at seeing Professor McGonnagall so open, especially in front of them, but he had a sneaking feeling that she had forgotten that they were even there, but he couldn't help but smile at seeing this side of their strict professor. It was a lovely change.

Although it appeared that she hadn't heard him gasp, she had, after all her animagus form was a cat. She stiffened at remembering that she wasn't the only one in the room with Harry and slowly turned around to face the twins with a faint blush coloring her cheeks. Looking at the twins smiling faces, she blushed even harder and looked down at the carpet. A second later, she cleared her throat and looked back up at the young men in front of her, looking every bit of Professor McGonnagall. "I think it's time for you two to return to the dormitory's."

Fred and George nodded their heads in agreement. It was half past twelve. They should have been back there hours ago, but instead they had gone looking for their head of house when they were asked if they had seen her. They followed Minerva as she walked them to the door silently. When she opened it, she leaned against the side of it and looked at them. "Thank you Fred, George." She whispered softly.

The boys looked at each other, than simultaneously, they stepped forward and wrapped their arms around her waist. "We're so sorry McG." They each whispered into her ears.

Minerva stiffened at the sudden contact but relax into the embrace and returned it with a hug of her own. "So am I." She said and pulled back.

They twins bowed their heads in respect and turned to walk back to the common room. When they were out of sight, Minerva slowly closed her door and walked back over to where Harry was sleeping. Carefully, she sat herself down in the space that Fred had left her near Harry's head and watched him sleep for a minute before he opened his dull green eyes that were red from crying earlier. Minerva saw the sadness she felt showing in his eyes and picked his head up, placing it in her lap. "Ohhh…" She brushed his messy bangs form his forehead and tried to smile at him. "My Harry."

Harry looked into cloudy green eyes and smiled weakly. "Sing for me. Sing the song you used to sing to me." Minerva looked down at him in shock. "Please Mi."

Minerva looked into his pleading eyes and started to sing.

_Hush my kitten, it's time to sleep._

_And hold these tears for another day._

_I know what you've been telling me,_

_So hold your tears for another day._

_I promise I will never leave you._

_You should always know, _

_No matter where you walk, _

_No matter how far it is._

_I will always be with you._

_Hush My Kitten, it's time to rest._

_With so many things to tell you,_

_Remember all the times you danced with me,_

_When you went swimming in the lake._

_And like a hammock in a breeze,_

_I'm rocking you to sleep._

_The times are dark yet bright_

_Inside your lovely heart,_

_You'll always be a part of me._

She continued to hum the song.

_Hush My Kitten, it's time to dream._

_And dream how nice your life will be._

_Someday you'll start to cry,_

_But if we sing this lullaby,_

_Then in each other's hearts, we'll be._

_One day we'll all be gone,_

_But lullaby's go on and on._

_They never die._

_That's how you and I will be._

Minerva never once took her eyes off of the boy who was laying with his head in her lap. As she sang, she watched as his eyelids dropped and finally fell shut.

"Sleep my kitten."


	9. Lullabies and Tea Part 3

**A/N: **Okay, after a dose of writers block, I have finally started writing again. Of course I've had help.  
So **thank you **Katie Travanion. If it wasn't for her, I would still be stuck. If it wasn't for her review which gave me an idea on how to tie my idea up, you guys would seriously be hating me.  
So once again **THANK YOU KATIE!**

**Lullabies and Tea**

**Part 3**

The common room was unusually quiet, was what Harry noticed when he walked down the stairs. He knew why everyone was quiet. They were still in shock over Dumbledore's death. Not that he could blame them, he himself was still processing the information. Silently he walked over to the last seat in front of the fire and sat down, pulling out a piece of parchment from his pocket, along with his wand. Making sure no one was looking, he tapped the end of his wand on the parchment and whispered under his breath. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

Slowly, ink started to spread on the map, outlining the castle in detail. Scanning the parchment, he saw a dot practically breaking apart. He flicked his eyes up above the dot and gasped at the name.

Minerva McGonnagall.

Not bothering to explain to Hermione or Ron what had surprised him, he jumped out of his chair and ran out of the common room as if the devil himself was chasing him. Harry sprinted down the empty halls towards his destination. Minerva's private rooms. Once he was close enough, he spoke the password. "My kitten has returned home."

Godric swung the door open so fast that the painting bounced off the wall behind it as Harry ran past. When Harry didn't see her in the sitting room, he paused, held his breath and listened. The sound of soft sobbing could be heard behind the door near the bookcase. With a sudden burst of energy, he threw the door open and ran to the edge of the bed. Carefully, he sat down and shook Minerva's shoulder, trying to gain her attention. When all she did was curl up into a tighter ball and cry even harder, Harry withdrew his hand and thought for a second.

With his mind made up, he kicked off his shoes and lay down next to her with his arms lightly wrapped around her trembling form. "Oh Minerva."

Minerva stiffened at the unexpected contact, but relaxed when she heard Harry's soothing voice. She rolled over onto her other side so her head was resting against his shoulder. "Oh Harry. I miss him. I miss him so much."

Harry tightened his grip around her waist and as she cried in to his shoulder. "I know you do. We all know you do." He whispered.

Minerva looked up at him and sniffed. "All?"

Harry nodded. "All your Gryffindor's know. We're all worried about you."

"Oh what they must think of me. I should be out there…" She said, trying to get up.

Harry stopped her and pulled her back down. "What we think is that you just lost your best friend and need some time to collect yourself."

Minerva shied away into his shoulder at the look Harry was giving her. "Thank you Harry." She mumbled.

Harry smiled. "You're welcome Màthair."

_Màthair – Mother in Scotish Gaelic._


	10. Conversations over Tea

**A/N: **Okay, here's the 7th last chapter for this story. A huge_Thank you _to Lyra124. Her idea has added another 4 chapters to the original three that I had planned out to end this story. I must admit, that I sort of twisted it to fit in with the ending I've planned, but the main idea was Lyra's. So again, **THANK YOU! **And I hope you enjoy.

**Conversations over Tea**

**Part 1**

Minerva sat behind the desk in the Headmasters office starring off into nothing, thinking. Two days ago she had locked herself in her room after the death of Albus. Two days ago, Harry had come and stayed with her for the whole day trying to make her laugh. Now, she was thinking about the letter she had just read. Not even an hour after she had walked into her new office, Albus had told her to open the top draw of her new desk and read the letter sitting on top of the stack of papers. The letter was written the morning before he had died. In it he had explained, in his own way, that he and Harry were searching for something to help end the war, and that because of this search, one day he may not survive. But the last bit was what was upset her the most. It said that her Harry may not be returning to the school the following year to continue the search.

Clearing her throat, Minerva looked around the desk without seeing it. Without needing to, she picked up the stacks of parchment and tided them into a neater pile. After cleaning her desk, she looked around the office, her eyes falling on the silent portrait of the late Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore looked down from his portrait and into his best friend's eyes. "You need to be strong Minerva. You need to be strong for Harry." He whispered.

Minerva stared at him for a while before she turned back around and re-read the letter. Once she was done, instead of being sad about it, instead she felt anger building. Clenching the letter tightly in her hand, she stood up quickly and stormed from her office, not even noticing that her chair had fallen over in her rush to stand. With long, powerful strides, Minerva marched down the many corridors of Hogwarts in search of one person.

Harry Potter.

After not finding him in any of the usual places, Minerva decided that she would just head to the common room and ask one of the other Gryffindor's. With that in mind, she turned sharply around the corner, not noticing the two students who had pushed themselves up against the wall to avoid colliding with her. Instead she picked up the skirt of her robes and climbed the stairs to the portrait garding the Gryffindor common room.

The Fat Lady looked at the Professor and drawled. "Password?"

Minerva glared at the painted being. "Futterwhacken." She hissed.

Before the portrait had swung fully open, Minerva was through and standing at the end of the small hall. She glanced around the common room and was annoyed at seeing that Harry was sitting there in front of the fire. Not caring that there were other student in the room, or that Ron and Hermione were sitting on either side of him, she stalked up to stand in front of him, waving the letter in her hand around. "Is it true?"

Hermione and Ron pulled back slightly at the venom in her voice, but Harry frowned and gently tugged the letter out of her white knuckle grip. After scanning over it and coming to the end, he looked up at her and nodded his head.

"Yes." Was all he said while handing it back to her.

Minerva gritted her teeth and nodded curtly before turning on her heel and leaving the common room. Hermione, along with everyone else in the room jumped at the sound of the portrait slamming shut behind their head of house. After a minute, everyone turned to look at Harry in sympathy.

No one knew what just happened, but they all knew they never wanted to be on the receiving end of McGonnagall's temper.


	11. Conversations over Tea Part 2

**A/N: **Okay, here's the 6th last chapter for this story. A huge_Thank you _to Lyra124. Her idea has added another 4 chapters to the original three that I had planned out to end this story. I must admit, that I sort of twisted it to fit in with the ending I've planned, but the main idea was Lyra's. So again, **THANK YOU! **And I hope you enjoy.

**Conversations over Tea**

**Part 2**

Minerva paced around her new office with a frown. She was trying to come up with an idea on how to convince Harry to come back to the school, to her. Turning around to continue her pacing, her gaze fell on the full bookcase in front of her. Suddenly, she knew how she could convince him to stay with her until she could come up with a better idea. Determined to make her plan work, she left her office once again in search of Harry. This time she headed straight to the common room, but was told that he and Ron and Hermione had left for the library half an hour ago. Nodding her thanks, she left and made her way to the library.

Upon entering the large library, she saw that they were sitting at the table at the back of the room with a rather large pile of books scattered around them. After a brief pause, she continued walking, only stopping when she was standing at the end of the table. When Ron and Hermione looked at her she glared and spoke to Harry. "We need to talk."

Harry looked at her curiously and nodded his head. "Can we have some privacy guys?"

Hermione and Ron looked at Harry before nodding their heads and silently leaving the two alone at the table. Once they were out of hearing range, Minerva sat down in the chair beside Harry and looks at her folded hands, searching for what she wanted to say. Finally, she speaks quietly.

"Why?"

Harry looked at her, but she continued to stare at her hands so he shakes his head. "I need to do this, to end this war."

Minerva looked up and turned in her seat to face him. "What can you do out there, that you can't do here?" She asked almost pleadingly, taking his hand in her own.

Harry smiled slightly and Minerva knew she had him. "Nothing."

"Then stay here, were I-we can keep you safe."

Smiling widely at the slip up and the light blush coloring her cheeks, Harry reluctantly nods his head in compliance. "Ok, I'll think about it. That's the best I can offer at the moment."

Minerva nodded her head thoughtfuly. "I guess that will have to do. For now." She added.

_Soooo sorry that it's short and for the wait, but I haven't really been all that thrilled to be working on this when I have so many other ideas in my head. The next chapter will be longer and the one after that as well. _

_Kat._


	12. Conversations over Tea Part 3

**A/N: **Okay, here's the 5th last chapter for this story. A huge_Thank you _to Lyra124. Her idea has added another 4 chapters to the original three that I had planned out to end this story. I must admit, that I sort of twisted it to fit in with the ending I've planned, but the main idea was Lyra's. So again, **THANK YOU! **And I hope you enjoy.

**Conversations over Tea**

**Part 3**

The Great Hall was a hum with the sound of so many students chatting quietly with their friends or scraping their plates with knives and forks, well in everyone else's case except for Ronald Weasley, who was shovelling his food into his mouth with his hands. Hermione watched him with a disgusted sneer as he continued to force more and more food into his mouth, even though it couldn't possibly hold anymore. And yet, he found a way around that small fact. Hermione looked away and slowly picked at her food as she flipped the page of her Transfiguration textbook.

Harry on the other hand, was amused to great ends at the antics of his closest friends. Today was the last day before they would hop on the train and head to their families. Well, Hermione and Ron would, Harry himself would be going to the Burrow along with Ron and the rest of his family for the holidays. While he chewed on a piece of toast, the doors to the hall opened and in walked the Headmistress in her dark silk green robes. Her hair was pulled back into her customary bun, but today it looked softer because it wasn't in a tight knot on top of her head like usual, instead it was loose and at the base of her neck. She walked up the centre isle between the Gryffindor table and the Ravenclaw table with long, powerful strides. As she neared Harry's spot, she tapped the first year on the shoulder and glared at them, making them get up and move to the other end of the table.

Sitting down, Minerva pulled an empty dish towards her and piled it with sausages, fried tomato, eggs and toast. As she looked up, she wasn't surprised to see the surrounding Gryffindor's starring with mouths hanging open. Sending them a stronger glare, she reached out and transfigured the juice in the glass into coffee before taking a sip. Once she put her glass down, she started to eat her small breakfast. "I spoke with the Weasley's this morning and a plan has been put into place. You will be staying with them as planned, but at a certain time, you will be removed and moved to a safer location."

Throughout her explanation, Ronald and Hermione ate while they listened. "When will he be moved to the safe house?" Ron asked around a rather large mouthful of food.

Minerva looked up at him as if he was the stupidest person in the world, but covered it up before anyone could notice as Hermione elbowed him in the ribs. "Honestly Ronald. The Professor isn't just going to blurt out the date Harry's going to be moved." She whispered harshly.

Shaking his head in amusement, Harry continued to eat in silence as they bickered back and forth. Minerva leaned in closer to Harry, still keeping an eye on the arguing pair in front of her, and whispered. "Are they always like this?"

Harry looked at her pointedly. "Yes." And went back to eating what was left of his breakfast.

Minerva nodded and went back to her own breakfast. Once she was done, she stood up and turned to start walking down the isle. "I'll see you in the entrance hall in two hours." She walked down the isle a bit before she turned back around again. "Mr Potter, drop by my office in an hour."

"Yes Professor."

With a nod, Minerva turned once more and walked down the isle and out of the hall.

An hour later, Harry was standing in front of the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to the Headmistress's office. He had been standing there for a few minutes since he had said what he had thought was the password, _'Kitten.'_, but it turned out to be wrong. After starring at the gargoyle for a little while longer, Harry narrowed his eyes and guessed again. "Phoenix?" Again it didn't move aside. "Ginger Newts? Tabby? Cat?" He frowned as an idea came to him. It couldn't be, could it? "Dumbledore?"

The ancient gargoyle jumped aside and allowed Harry to walk up the winding stair case to stand in front of the large oak door of the Headmistress's office. After knocking, he waited patiently for her usual quiet, but stern _'Come in.' _After hearing it, he slowly opened the door and walked inside, closing the door behind him before sitting in the comfortable chair in front of her desk with a smile. "You wanted to see me Professor?"

Minerva gently placed her laid her white feathered quill done on the desk and folded her hands in front of her. "I thought you would like to know more about when you'll be moved." Harry nodded his head, but stayed silent, allowing her to continue uninterrupted. "The plan is to move you on the 3rd of August from the Burrow to a safer location for the rest of the holidays."

Again Harry nodded and thought for a second before speaking up. "Excuse me Professor, but where exactly will I be moved to?"

With a slight blush coloring her cheeks, Minerva looked down at her hands nervously. "You'll be moved to my home in the Highlands." She looked up from her hands and saw that he was grinning. "What are you grinning about?"

Harry laughed. "You just want me there because you'll miss me."

Feeling more blood rush into her cheeks, Minerva tried to look stern, but failed miserably. "I want you there so I can keep an eye on you."

Laughing again, Harry stood up and pushed in his chair. "Come on, otherwise we'll be late."

Minerva snapped her head to the side to look at the clock and gasped. "How time flies."

Holding the door open, Harry arched his eyebrow at her. "Indeed."


	13. Conversations over Tea Part 4

**A/N: **Okay, here's the 4th last chapter for this story. A huge_Thank you _to Lyra124. Her idea has added another 4 chapters to the original three that I had planned out to end this story. I must admit, that I sort of twisted it to fit in with the ending I've planned, but the main idea was Lyra's. So again, **THANK YOU! **And I hope you enjoy.

**Conversations over Tea**

**Part 4**

After walking down to the platform with Minerva, Harry was pulled on to the train and into an empty carriage by Ron and Hermione. As they sat down, the train slowly started to creep forward. Harry looked out the large glass window and locked eyes with Minerva. With small smile and a barely visible nod, Harry turned back to his friends and waited for them to start asking questions. He didn't have to wait long; Hermione leant forward in her seat anxiously.

"Well?"

Harry settled back into his seat and crossed his arms. "I'm leaving for the safe house on the 3rd of August." He said. He didn't want to go into detail about the conversation he had with the older witch, it felt like he was breaking her trust, just by telling them that much.

Hermione opened her mouth to ask another question, but stopped as she was elbowed in the ribs by Ron. Snapping her head to the side, she glared at him, but backed off at seeing the look he was giving her. Slowly she turned back to face Harry and noticed that he seemed to have stiffened. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she let it go and pulled out her book. Half an hour into the trip, Harry fell asleep against the glass.

For the first time in a long time, he didn't dream. No Voldemort. No Sirius. Not even his uncle. And for that he was internally thankful. When he finally woke up, he looked around and saw that it was only him and Hermione in the carriage. Knowing that Ron would be looking for the trolley lady, and wouldn't be back for at least half an hour, Harry sat up and leant forward in his seat.

"Hermione, I was wondering if you could help me with something."

Hermione looked up from her book and gazed at him questioningly. "What is it Harry?"

"Well, I would like to create…" He continued on about his idea, all along with Hermione nodding her head thoughtfully and explained in great detail on what exactly he wanted. By the time he was finished explaining, Hermione had a familiar gleam to her eyes. With one last nod from her, Harry sat back. "Do you think you can do it?"

Brushing back a loose lock of hair, Hermione bit down on her bottom lip slightly. "I think I can. But it may take a couple of days to get it right." She answered slowly.

Smiling, Harry relaxed. "Thank you Hermione."

Before going back to her book, Hermione returned the smiled. Not long after, Ron came back with his arms full of sweets. He tossed some chocolate frogs to Harry and handed Hermione a small treacle tart. The rest of the ride was spent in silence except for the sound of turning passages and the occasional snore from Ron. Not long after, the train slowly started to slow down, indicating that they were at the station. After waking Ron, Harry got out of the train and wasn't at all surprised to see the whole Weasley family there waiting for them. Giving Hermione a hug and promising her to write, Harry and Ron made their way over to the large family.

Before they could make it halfway though, Harry was pulled into a bone crushing hug by none other than Molly Weasley. "Oh Harry dear. It's good to see you again."

Hugging her back, Harry couldn't help but notice the differences between her hugs and Minerva's. Molly's were tight and yet still left him feeling like he was cared for, but Minerva's were light and warm, loving and just so packed full of emotion that he couldn't stop himself from wishing that it was her hugging him at that moment, and not Mrs Weasley. Pulling back, he smiled up at her to hide his thoughts. "It's good to see you as well Mrs Weasley, and thank you for letting me stay."

"Oh it's no trouble Harry dear. Now tell me, how have you been?" She asked as she steered the large group out of the station.

_**-/-Time skip - 3**__**rd**__** of August-\\-**_

A soft _pop_ announced the arrival of someone just outside of the wards of the Burrow, and the _roar _of the fire announced the arrival of another person in the living room of the Weasley home. One was dark skinned, dressed in dark blue robes with an open expression, while the other was pale, dressed in dark green robes and wore a stern expression. Looking around the empty space, Minerva walked into the kitchen to see Molly washing up a pile of dishes. Clearing her throat softly, she waited patiently for the red head to turn around.

"Oh Minerva, you're here already. I wasn't expecting you for another hour at least." Molly said as she tried her hands with a towel.

Offering a small smile, Minerva dipped her head. "I am sorry to interrupt your morning Molly, but we thought it would be best to move the plan forward, just in case."

"We?"

"Kingsley and I." Minerva replied as the door to the kitchen opened to show the for mentioned man.

Smiling, Molly put the towel on the table and headed towards the stairs. "Very well. They're still upstairs. I'll just pop up and get them."

Before Molly could place her foot on the first step, Minerva was next to her. "I will come with you." She said, leaving no room for argument.

Knowing better then to argue with the witch, Molly nodded her head and walked up the stair to Ron's room. She opened the door silently and stepped aside for Minerva to walk in. When she was, Molly turned and walked back down the stairs to make some tea for them. Minerva surveyed the room and noticed straight away that it was empty. Turning back to ask Molly about it, she caught sight of a brown box with a white envelope, on what she presumed to be Harry's bed. Striding over towards it, she could make out her name on top of the envelope and felt her heart fall into her stomach. Picking it up gently, she opened it and pulled out the small piece of parchment.

_Mi,_

_I want to apologize for this and for not having the courage to tell you in person. Some Gryffindor I am, aye? First of all, I want you to know that for the whole of the holidays, I have been thinking about the chance at being able to stay with you in your home, and I want to thank you for that, but I never intended to stay. _

_One way or another, I would have left to finish what Professor Dumbledore and I started._

_Secondly, if you haven't figured it out already, Ron and Hermione have left with me to continue the search. _

_Lastly, there's a gift for you in the box. I thought you would like to know that I'm alright whenever you wanted to, so I asked Hermione to help me with this._

_Please don't be upset Mi, I need to do this. _

_I need to end this war._

_Harry._

Halfway through the letter, Minerva sat down heavily on the bed with tears in her eyes. Once she had finished reading the letter, she folded it back up carefully and placed it back inside the envelope before moving her hands to the box. Slowly, she lifted the lid of the box and gasped softly. Inside was a glass kitten with bright green eyes. With a gentleness that would have shocked any of her students, Minerva picked up the kitten and cradled it against her chest. "Oh Harry."

After a minute of just sitting there, Minerva placed the glass kitten on her shoulder and listened to it purr as she put Harry's letter in the pocket of her robes. She slowly made her way down the many stairs to the kitchen where she saw Molly once again washing the dishes and Kingsley and Arthur talking.

Molly looked over her shoulder. "Where's Harry?" She asked as she placed the last cup on the bench to dry.

"Gone. They left last night."

"They?" Kingsley asked in surprised.

Minerva nodded her head and sat down at the table. "Miss Granger and Mr Weasley left with him."

Gasping, Molly sat down at the head of the table. "Oh what do we do, Minerva?"

Taking the kitten off her shoulder, Minerva looked into its green eyes as she scratched it under its neck. For once in her life, Minerva didn't know what to do.


	14. Tea with Mathair

**A/N: **Third last chapter for this story my friends. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it.

**A/N 2: **Okay, fair warning. I have skipped most of the seventh book, mainly because there is too much to pack into my little story. So this begins half way through the battle of Hogwarts.

**Tea with M****á****thair**

The hour was nearly up, and Minerva couldn't stop her pacing. She had been hoping that Harry would come see her again in the time allowed before they went back to fighting Voldemort, but she hadn't seen him. She had of course gone looking for Hermione and Ronald, but they hadn't been seen either. So instead she had started pacing on the raised platform in the Great Hall, or what was left of it. Suddenly a high pitched cackle echoed throughout the grounds of the ancient castle. Their hour was up.

Minerva looked up and out of the broken doors to see a sea of black slowly moving towards the court yard. Upon realising what that sea was made of, Minerva straightened herself up to her full height and lead the living outside to meet their enemy. When she stopped walking, Molly Weasley stepped up beside her, but didn't say anything. For a full minute everything was silent, until the voice of Neville Longbottom was heard somewhere behind them.

"What's that? What's that Hagrid's carrying?"

Minerva turned to face the friendly half giant and focused on the form in his arms. When he shifted the bundle, she felt her heart stop beating and drop into her stomach.

It was Harry.

Her Harry.

She fell to the ground with a heart wrenching scream. "**NO!**"

Everyone was shocked into silence at the terrible sound from the normally composed Professor, but it didn't take long for Voldemort to get over the shock and start cackling at the broken sound. "Yes! Harry Potter is dead! Your '_Chosen one_' is dead! Gone! He can't save you now!" Listening to Voldemort's bragging, Minerva slowly started to feel angry. She could feel the blood pumping through her veins and slowly pushed herself up and off the ground like the warrior she was. She had had enough. She was going to end it. "…coward. He was running away, trying to save his own life and let…" The Dark Lord stumbled to a stop in his rant at seeing Minerva standing up with a look of pure hatred aimed at him.

Minerva glared at him, not caring that the wind was blowing her torn robes around her legs and her hair across her face. All she cared about at that moment was the fact that he had taken away the one thing she had left. With her wand pointing to the ground in a white knuckle grip, she looked terrifying.

"You. Murdered. My. Harry. You will pay!" With that, she spun around and threw a hex at him, then another and another.

Voldemort backed up as Minerva pushed forward throwing spells at him so fast that they were just a blur. He blocked them all and finally threw one back himself, only to back up another step as she blocked it with ease. He watched as she continued to move forward and noticed that with each spell she was sending his way, she was getting angrier.

"Sectumsempra!" Minerva shouted. Upon seeing that she had made a grave mistake at using that spell against him, Minerva went from the offence to the defence.

"You dare use one of my most faithful followers spell against me? Not the smartest thing to do Minnie." He taunted as he finally pushed forward.

Minerva hesitated with her curses at the name. The Dark Lord saw this and took advantage of it. "Crucio!"

Minerva fell to the ground convulsing. She clamped her teeth together to prevent herself from screaming out from the excruciating pain. Forcing herself to keep her eyes open, Minerva watched as Voldemort smiled, showing all of his pointed teeth. As she tightened her grip on her wand, she noticed movement coming from the left side of the evil wizard. Harry was walking towards him calmly. Voldemort, seeing where she was looking, turned to face Harry taking the curse off her. He sneered and raised his wand towards the young man. "Why won't you die?"

Harry looked at Minerva and smiled slightly as she slowly stood up. "Because I have something worth living for." He said and raised his own wand, pointing it at the evil ones chest.

"Avada Kedavra!" Minerva and Harry yelled in unison.

Riddle was froze as the two beams of green closed in on him. As they came in contact with his white skin, he screamed and it bounced off every surface before it stopped. Everyone stood still, not believing the sight in front of them. Voldemort was gone. He was finally gone.

Harry and Minerva stood frozen as they watched Tom Riddle fall to the ground in slow motion. After starring at the fallen body, they looked up at each other and stepped forward. Suddenly everything started to speed up and they were running towards each other at full speed. Half way across the court yard, they reached each other and wrapped their arms around the other and held on tightly, not even caring that they were being watched. Minerva didn't even care that she was crying in front of the entire student body. All she cared about at that moment was that she had Harry in her arms. "Don't you _ever _do that to me again Harry. Never."

Harry laughed and tightened his hold around her waist. "I won't."


	15. Tea with Mathair Part 2

**A/N: **Second last chapter for this story my friends. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it. :)

**Tea with M****á****thair**

**Part 2**

Minerva held on to Harry tightly as the rest of the student body, staff members and everyone else ran towards them, engulfing them in a large group hug, forgetting for just a moment about their fallen comrades, friends and family. She laughed along with Harry as arms of students and colleagues wrapped around them without any hesitation. Looking down into Harry's bright green eyes, Minerva smiled softly and placed a gentle kiss on his scar.

An hour later saw Harry sitting beside a dreamy faced Ravenclaw. He had been sitting there hoping that no one would come and talk to him, but he was unlucky. It seemed that every man, woman and child wanted a 'moment' of his time to thank him and ask him questions that he really didn't want to answer. Once the man he was talking to finally left, he sat back down beside his strange friend with a heavy sigh.

Luna looked at Harry with a smile. "I'd want some peace and quiet if it were me." She said.

"I'd love some." He replied.

"I'll distract them." And before he could thank her, she cried out. "Ooh, look, a Blibbering Humdinger!" and pointed out of the window. Everyone who heard looked around, and Harry slid the cloak up over himself and got to his feet.

Walking silently through the throng of people, he headed towards the newly repaired doors and outside. He walked down the pathway to the Black Lake that he had walked many times in his years at Hogwarts. Standing beside the large tree, he saw a certain tall figure sitting on the bench not too far away. Taking the cloak off, he walked over to her, and wrapped it around her shoulders, making sure that it was in was in the wrong way.

They sat in silence for a while just watching the surface of the water ripple as the giant squid swam just underneath. Without looking at her, Harry spoke. "You should have Madam Pomfrey look at your cheek."

Minerva finally turned to look at Harry, but didn't say anything. She knew he was right, but she didn't have the strength to get up and walk to the castle only to get a dressing down by the Medi Witch. Turning back to watch the lake, she let a tear roll down her hollow cheek unchecked, than another and another. Soon she was sobbing for all the people who had diead and in relief that the war was over.

Harry carefully pulled her into a hug, mindfull of the cuts and bruises she had sustained during the battle, and held her while he whispered soothing words in her ear.

Not long later, she stopped crying, but didn't pull out of Harry's embrace. Instead, she laid her head on his shoulder and started to sing her own mothers lullaby in a calming tone.

_Heaven's gift to me just the way you are,  
A new aged child from a distant star.  
It feels so good just to be  
So close to your love. You are heaven's gift to me._

You are so sweet and pure just the way you are.  
Mama's precious jewel. Daddy's rising star.  
There's so much in life for you to see.  
And so much to be. You are Heaven's gift to me.

La la la la la la, la la la la la,  
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la,  
La la la la la, la la la la,  
La la la la la, la la la la la la la

Heaven's gift to me just the way you are,  
A new aged child always in my heart.  
There's so much in life for you to be,  
And so much to see. You are heaven's gift to me.

La la la la la la, la la la la la,  
La la la la la, la la la la la,  
La la la la la la, la la la la la,  
La la la la la, la la la la la la la.

La la la la la la, la la la la la,  
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la,  
There's so much in life for you to see,  
And so much to be. You are heaven's gift to me

**A/N 2: **So, one more chapter to go and then this will be complete. Oh what a glorious/sad day that will be. :') That was meant to be a smiley with a tear. :\ Anyway, the song is called Wiccan Lullaby and it is one of my favourite songs. Check it out on you-tube. Bye!


	16. Tea with Mathair Part 3

**Tea with M****á****thair**

**Part 3**

Harry sat in his chair, sipping his tea as he watched Minerva scribble away on what he assumed was a student's essay. He leant back further in his chair with a small smile and a distant look in his eyes. Who would have thought that over two years ago, he would befriend his Transfiguration Professor? Certainly not him, that's for sure. But here he was, sitting sipping tea in her office as she worked comfortably. He brought his cup up to his mouth as he thought about the first time they had shared a cup of tea. He snorted silently when he realized that it had all started over a cup of tea. Lowering his cup, he looked around the Headmistress's office taking in the small, but noticeable changes.

The most obvious one was that it was more organised, Dumbledore had been awful at keeping things in place. The seats in front of the fire had been changed from the brown leather singles, to a soft red love seat and two small green at either side. On top of the mantle was a photograph of him and her sitting on the bench near the lake. Minerva had her head on his shoulder and he had his arm wrapped around her while he adjusted the cloak around her shoulders. It had been taken without them realizing it the night they had defeated Voldemort by Professor Flitwick. That had been six months ago, and in those six months, Minerva and the rest of the staff; him included, had restored Hogwarts and re-warded the castle. All the students had left to spend with their families, while Ron went straight into auror and Hermione in search for her parents.

Turning back to face Minerva, he saw the portrait of Dumbledore hanging up above her head on the wall. He watched as his mentor slept peacefully in his chair and couldn't stop the slight curl of his lips; it was so like him to sleep while everyone else was doing something. Seeing movement from the corner of his eye, he turned slightly to look at the portrait of Snape. It had taken Minerva and him close to two months to get his portrait hung. The Ministry didn't want to have a _'Bloody Death Eater' _hanging on the wall for the honourable. But after Harry had shown them the memories, they relented and allowed the portrait to be created. Since then no one has dared say a thing against it. Looking up at Professor Snape now, he was surprised to see him smiling down at them. When Snape noticed Harry watching him, he didn't try to hide his smile, but mouthed a silent _'Thank you.'_ To him. Harry smiled up at his most hated Professor and nodded his head.

Swallowing the last of his tea, Harry placed the small cup on the saucer and sat it gently on the table with a soft click. When he looked up again, he smiled at Minerva. "Feel like going for a walk?"

Minerva sighed and looked around her new office that came with her new title, and the paperwork. "Yes. I do need to get out of this office."

Smiling wider, Harry stood up and offered his arm for her to take. Laughing, Minerva looped her arm through his and walked alongside him to the door, where he opened it for her. They walked in a comfortable silence as Harry lead them through many of the corridors for Hogwarts. They didn't take much notice in where they were heading, but when Harry realized they were walking down the hallway to the Room of Requirement, he slowed to a stop. Ignoring the questioning look from Minerva, he paced back and forwards in front of the wall three times, thinking _'Somewhere happy. Somewhere happy. Somewhere happy.' _Once the door was visible, he turned the handle and held it open for Minerva to enter first. After walking in after her and shutting it, Harry moved to stand next to her but stopped at the only and very familiar object in the centre of the room. The Mirror of Erised.

Harry stepped closer to the mirror as Minerva spoke softly. "Harry, do you know what this is?"

Nodding, Harry stepped up in front of it expecting to see his Mother and father again. But what he saw made him gasp. Minerva stepped up next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "What do you see?"

Harry smiled as he looked into her eyes by the mirror. "I see you and I, Máthair."

Minerva looked down and smiled one of her rare smiles. "So do I, Mo Mhac."

_The End_

_Farewell my lovely story. It has been a great pleasure writing you. _

_Love Kat._

_xoxo_


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